Country
Australia
City
Brisbane
Hotel
Four Points by Sheraton
Notes
The Good
- Modern, contemporary feel
- Located close to the city's business and financial hubs
- Hi-tech TV with Foxtel HD and recording functionality
The Bad
- No executive lounge or dedicated business centre
- Everything is a little 'cosy'
X-Factor
- Head to the rooftop with a drink or your laptop and take in the view
Introduction
Earlier this year, Brisbane made a triumphant return to the Starwood map with the opening of the Four Points by Sheraton hotel.
Packing in 246 guest rooms, it's the first new-build hotel to enter Brisbane's CBD in over a decade in fierce competition for business and leisure travellers alike.
With the city otherwise dominated by the likes of Accor and Hilton, ascend the elevators with us as we show you what the Four Points has to offer.
Location & Impressions
Housed around 900m from Central Station, the Four Points is close to the city centre and its surroundings.
Guests in town on business will find the Riverside Centre – Brisbane's financial hub – just 500m away, and a stone's throw from the renowned restaurants of Eagle Street Pier.
A relatively small lobby sets the scene for the hotel, which feels quite 'cosy' yet modern throughout.
Room
Although a little smaller than one would find at the Hilton or the Stamford, the Deluxe River View King room was functional and had all of the essentials.
Above all, that ‘modern’ touch was abundant – from the iPhone-compatible dock at the bedside through to restaurant reservations via the television system.
The Four Points Signature Bed was more than comfortable...
... and if you'd prefer to get some rest throughout the day, simply lower the electronic blackout curtain.
The bathroom, while again relatively compact, uses a sliding glass pane to make the best use of the limited space – doubling as both a shower and toilet door.
Amenities were plentiful, from the expected shampoos and conditioners…
… through to shaving and vanity kits, along with a real hairdryer. Also for female business travellers, there’s bright lighting around the mirror, suitable for applying make-up.
That light is also enough for the morning grooming ritual, although a separate shaving mirror is absent.
The room's mini bar comes packed full of goodies...
... along with one well-considered item: a multi-country power adaptor.
Guests aren’t required to pay an exorbitant amount to remove it from its packaging – in fact, use of the adaptor is free, and is the ultimate convenience for the forgetful international traveller.
A welcome amenity is also offered to guests in Deluxe rooms. On our stay, it was a trio of scrumptious desserts:
Unfortunately lacking attention to detail, these nibbles were delivered without the requisite cutlery. Coffee spoons sufficed, but were taken by housekeeping and not replaced until requested.
Bathroom essentials also weren't restocked during the stay, and the 'complimentary' signs were surprisingly reattached to the already-opened bottles of water.
If these aren't a daily amenity, resetting them – rather than leaving them untouched – feels a little cheap.
Work
Business travellers will find a working space in the room with an adjustable light and desk-level power points – immediately ticking two of this author’s five checkboxes for the makings of a great business hotel room.
Oddly, and despite staying in a ‘river view’ room, the table was positioned facing a blank, boring wall that lacked any artwork to bring both colour and style.
As you can see, we decided to redecorate to take in the view...
Fast wireless Internet was available throughout the hotel – including on the top floor near the beanbags and other seats.
It’s free in public areas, but is only comp’d for guests in Deluxe rooms and Gold and Platinum members of Starwood Preferred Guest.
Printing and photocopying services are available through the front desk, with no charge applying to the first twenty pages.
That’s not quite the ‘business centre’ as advertised on the hotel’s website – which would normally permit travellers to tend to these basic functions themselves.
It’s less than ideal for commercially sensitive information, although for something basic such as printing a flight itinerary, it’s more than fine.
Eat
In the lobby is Wrapped – a casual, deli-style café by day and a bar by night:
You’ll find the real action in The Eatery, the hotel’s all-day restaurant.
Platinum members of SPG can opt to receive breakfast as their complimentary benefit, and for all other guests, it’s $35.
With a good selection of hot items and pastries in the mornings, there’s also an omelette station for your own custom creation.
For that morning caffeine hit, the automated coffee machine is at the ready... but with all of the coffee cups the one size, we were befuddled as to why it hadn't been programmed correctly...
To make a full latte (or any other coffee, for that matter), one must run the coffee cycle a second time and grab the mug before it overflows.
That same coffee is available with the seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday evenings, which comes in addition to the daily la carte menu.
More family-friendly than a dedicated seafood feast, there are prawns, lamb and salt and pepper squid to keep every member of the family happy:
With an entire wing dedicated to dessert, that's also sure to include anyone with a sweet tooth!
Depending on various in-house promotions and a traveller's SPG status, the buffet dinner is priced betweem $55 and $75, excluding wine.
Relax
There’s no executive lounge, so we’d recommend grabbing a drink from the mini bar and heading to the top floor...
... as well as the beanbags, there are more sturdy chairs for taking in the river view.
Up there, you’ll also find a 24/7 gym with a good selection of equipment, albeit positioned awkwardly.
These bars on the cable pulley machine are designed for chin-ups, although if used as intended, one would find their head lodged squarely in the ceiling above…
We’re told that the gym is moving to level 2 later this year to make way for an improved bar and function area, at which time the machine will have a better home.
Back in the room, you’ll find more than just an ordinary HDTV.
On this set, HD-compatible channels were pleasingly available in full HD – and to our delight, that also included Fox Sports, Showcase and Discovery in addition to the free-to-air HD options.
Bonus points are awarded for having each channel set to the correct aspect ratio (that is, where the image fits the screen as intended without being stretched or cropped), and for having a full electronic program guide – including the Foxtel channels.
The TV also has an in-built video recorder which seamlessly functions on both free and pay TV channels – great for travellers who are hosting clients for dinner but don’t want to miss their favourite show.
We did experience a few playback issues on some of our test HD recordings, although everything pulled down in standard definition was flawless.
Travellers sporting their own devices can install the MyMedia app – which streams sound and picture from your gadget through to the screen via the hotel’s wireless network.
It’s a great concept, but unfortunately one that was still being fine-tuned during our visit.
The verdict
The Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane isn’t a five-star hotel, and it doesn’t pretend to be.
While a little compact, the room rates are quite competitive against other hotels in the city – making the lack of opulence a fair compromise.
That said, without an executive lounge or a dedicated business centre, it's a harder sell for business travellers who often prefer to work outside of their room.
Speaking of rooms, we learned that all non-suites are quite similar... in fact, the Comfort and higher-priced Deluxe rooms are identical.
The latter comes with additional toiletries, free internet access and a welcome gift, but housed in nothing more than a Comfort room.
Also, not every room has an armchair, and some are less spacious than others...
That could see a guest paying more for a Deluxe room, yet winding up in something smaller than the cheapest room at the hotel.
To stay ahead of the game, we’d recommend asking for that free ‘chair’ upgrade – blagging a slightly larger room, along with a little extra space to relax in Brisbane's newest hotel on your next visit to the Sunshine State.
Chris Chamberlin was a guest of Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum
07 Feb 2013
Total posts 548
Looks nice, good to have more options in brisbane, the place is a ripoff when it comes to hotels purely because of a lack of them. Paying $50-$100 more for a lower standard room than in a real capital city (sydney or melbourne) is a standard occurrence for me nowadays, hardly justified
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Nov 2013
Total posts 475
The 'real capital cities' as you refer to them Doubleplatinum are the real masters of the hotel rip-off...I'm constantly amazed at what hotels in Sydney and Melbourne charge for what are run down, poorly maintained hotels.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum
07 Feb 2013
Total posts 548
Agree, I dont know how some of them remain in business with the standard for what they charge
Qantas - QFF Platinum
20 Mar 2012
Total posts 211
Wouldn't be a QLD hotel without the requisite XXXX Gold in the minibar.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum
07 Feb 2013
Total posts 548
The fact that there were multiple screwups when they knew you were staying complimentary purely for the purposes of a review is concerning
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
I am constantly dumbfounded by the cost of hotel rooms in this country!
02 Oct 2014
Total posts 6
I was not impressed with this hotel when I stayed there. Not enough attention to detail and I am not saying 5 star attention. I would have been happy with 3 possibly 2 star attention instead I got 1 star.
Unless you are using the hotel for a points run I would not recommend it as a business hotel. The construction next door is noisy and consistent. I would recommend the restaurant though. The food wasn't bad.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Sep 2011
Total posts 321
Reviews on a pre-arranged comp are pretty meaningless. IMHO, only those that are done on a fully-paid, anonymous basis have much value. ABT please take note.
I agree with Doubleplatinum, this many points of criticism on a review comp does not auger well for we mere mortals.
Chris, your writing is getting more than a bit "gushy". Triumphant return...fierce competition...modern touch was abundant... You can do better.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2424
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on reviews wilsoni, but as you can see, those on AusBT are written in exactly the same fashion whether they result from a media trip or an ordinary commercial visit.
Even if an airline or hotel has made their product available to us, our duty as journalists is always to our readers – never to the airline or hotel that we're reviewing.
If something is spectacular, we'd say so regardless of who arranged the trip – and, where things could stand to be improved, our aim is always to be objective and to fairly document as much.
(Such as the coffee machine, the HD recording on the TV, the housekeeping, etc.)
On media reviews not "having much value", that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. However, I'd disagree.
As you can see from that above, we still go in and review the experience in exactly the same way as we would on any other visit – and where a stay or trip has been arranged for us, we always declare as much in the article or review.
It's fair to say that a hotel manager and the reception staff would normally know our name, but they certainly don't visit the room to see what kind of photos and notes are being made, nor are we followed around the hotel to ensure that we only take 'good photos'.
(If that were the case, we'd decline to review under those conditions as we either write something that's completely independent, or we don't write at all - it's that simple.)
Of course, if you're offering to pay for our year-round travel for review purposes, then by all means, be our guest. Otherwise, we'll continue to make the necessary arrangements to enable the creation of such content.
Re: "gushy" – would you prefer that I write "Starwood has set up shop in Brisbane", "those other guys have a lot of hotel rooms" and "the hotel room was totally new, like, everywhere"?
Sounds pretty bland to me...
03 Oct 2014
Total posts 1
I've stayed here a handful of times since it opened (and always when the hilton's - who treat frequent travelers well - are sold out), and in general the review is in line with my experience.
A few other points:
- I've never gotten the MyMedia TV App to work, neither have a ton of reviewers on the app store. However, it's a great idea so hopefully they figure out the bugs and I can stop dragging my HDMI cable around to play my own media.
- The machines in the gym actually support both iPhone and awesomely Android for playing your own media on the screens. Every other hotel I've stayed at are iPhone only.
- The breakfast is pretty medicore for the cost. I'm only a lowly Gold with SPG so paying $35 for what is essentially given away at the entry level Holiday Inn Express' is a bit sad.
- Rooms are small, modern and unimpressive. Really nothing special.
- Staff were pretty good overall.
In short, it's a new 2* hotel but not much more, good in a pinch, but wouldn't be in my top 5 for Brisbane.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Nov 2014
Total posts 1
Having just stayed there, i feel australian 4Points are about 2 stars behind the ones in Asia, yet it functions well, the Gym is gone on top floor, and it will become a Premier Bar,
the rest is fine for short stay,however with the W opening, and a whisper of a Westin next door, Spg Members now at least have a choise,
cheers paul
04 Jan 2018
Total posts 2
"The Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane isn't a five star hotel" Going by the photos that must be an understatement to beat most. Looks more like a top end Hostel rather than a Hotel. I know 4 points are not in the upper league but this one looks like it's at the bottom of the heap.
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